Paris, France – With a red carpet leading the way to the opulent Jean-Louis Laurens room in the historic Hotel de Ville of Paris, it became immediately apparent that this would be no routine press conference. The grandeur was confirmed once inside, as Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme and ASO managing director Yann Le Moenner greeted the crowd along with Marianne Vos, the most decorated female cyclist in history. The event: the official unveiling of La Course by the Tour de France.

Little more than speculation less than a year ago, La Course is the Tour’s effort to shine some of its spotlight on women’s cycling. The 90-kilometer course will race up and down the Champs-Elysees on the Tour’s final day. And as a promotional video (embedded below) announced, “This year on the Champs-Elysees in the Tour de France the women will cross the finish line first.”

“I have won a lot of trophies as you know,” Vos said jubilantly. “But today is even more special. I’m happy to be here in Paris. For me it’s a dream come true. Trophies collect dust. Dreams last forever.”

While some would have preferred to see a women’s race climb one of the Tour de France’s many epic mountain passes, Vos, like the Tour organizers, celebrated the visibility of having the La Course held in Paris on the final day. While La Course may not be the most grueling race on the women’s calendar, it promises to be the most watched event of the year, as it will benefit from all of the media attention garnered by the men’s race on the final day.

For Vos and other female cyclists like Lotto Belisol Ladies racer Emma Pooley and Kathryn Bertine, film director of Half the Road, the dream of sharing the stage of the Tour de France started as direct challenge last July when they sent a letter to Prudhomme in the middle of the Tour de France. Initially discounted, the move quickly gained momentum when Harriet Harman, a high-ranking Labour Party official in Great Britain followed up with a similar call.

But while the Tour originally appeared reluctant, they quickly changed direction after a late-season meeting with Vos and other leaders of women’s cycling.

“Once we saw how confident, engaged, and motivated the women were we just had to do something,” Le Moenner said.

“I had actually discussed the idea of doing a women’s event with Yann in 2012 and we were working towards it,” said Prudhomme. “But meeting with the women really helped speed things up.”

“Once we spoke with ASO we knew that the dream could be a reality,” Vos added. “And now in barely six months and we can announce La Course on July 27. That’s fantastic!”

But while ASO insists that this year’s race is no one-off, it is also reluctant to commit to further investment and additional days during the Tour itself. “That’s not even what the immense majority of women here want,” Prudhomme said. “What they want is visibility. And to be able to use the draw of the Tour on the Champs-Elysees to spread women’s cycling to over 150 countries around the world is formidable.”

Vos seemed to be in agreement. “It is great that ASO understands that for women’s cycling to progress they must be given a stage and that they open their doors on one of the biggest days of the Tour, on the Champs-Elysees.”

Starting at noon on the final day of the Tour, 20 teams of six riders will race around the Tour’s Champs-Elysees circuit a total of 13 times. And the event promises to bring together the crème de la crème of women’s cycling as the top 10 women’s teams are invited along with the top five national teams and five invited wild-card teams.

The flat roads running up and down the main street offer no major difficulties, but victory will not come easily. And Vos, especially, knows that all eyes will be on her. “It’s going to be complicated race to win,” she says. “But that’s bicycle racing! Whoever does win, however, will have a fantastic day of cycling.”